Tunable transportable spectroradiometer based on an acousto-optical tunable filter: Development and optical performance

Abstract

We describe a high-performance, transportable, versatile spectroradiometer based on an acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF). The instrument was developed for temperature metrology, namely, to determine the thermodynamic temperature of black bodies above the Ag freezing point (961.78 °C). Its main design feature is the attenuation of the diffraction side lobes (and, thus, out-of-band stray light) thanks to the use of a double-pass configuration. The radiofrequency tuning of the AOTF allows continuous, fine, and rapid wavelength control over a wide spectral range (650 nm-1000 nm). The instrument tunability can be easily calibrated with an Ar spectral lamp with reproducibility within 10 pm over one week. The instrument was characterised in terms of relative signal stability (few 10-4) and wavelength stability (1 pm) over several hours. The spectral responsivity of the instrument was calibrated with two complementary methods: tuning of the wavelength of the optical source or tuning the radiofrequency of the AOTF. Besides the application for thermodynamic temperature determination at the lowest uncertainty level, this instrument can also be used for multispectral non-contact thermometry of processed materials of non-grey and non-unitary emissivity (in the glass or metallurgical industries).